July 11, 2013

Last week, right out of the blue, I became the owner of a KOBO electronic reader. An avid, life-long reader, I love the physical attributes of books…how they look, feel and smell, especially when new.

I work hard at working smart instead of keeping busy by filling every minute with some kind of activity. As a result, there was no need for the convenience of e-readers while commuting, waiting in reception areas and all the other short time intervals that busy, busy people must fill

However, once I started to play with my new toy, all of my reservations about its usefulness totally disappeared.

What avid reader could possibly say no to 100 literary classics preloaded on the e-reader? Having read less than a third of these titles, my list of ‘unread books to read’ skyrocketed.

According to the User Guide, my KOBO can hold 1000 books. Including the 65 or so unread titles and given the rate at which I read books, this means that my e-reader can accommodate 19.3 years’ worth of reading. Now that’s impressive! And what’s even more impressive is that it won’t be necessary to make room for any of these books on space-limited bookshelves.

As my KOBO playtime progressed, I learned that it was also possible to upload PDFs to the unit. Bingo! Finally…a useful place to store all of those eBooks that people like us produce as part of our marketing.

If like me you have not organized your eBook collection, getting an e-reader is the good first step. But instead of dumping all the eBooks onto the device, download and install Adobe Digital Editions first. This free software helps you ‘…to view and manage eBooks and other digital publications. Use it to download and purchase digital content, which can be read both online and offline. Transfer copy-protected eBooks from your personal computer to other computers or devices. Organize your eBooks into a custom library and annotate pages.’

The key thing here is to review the eBooks that you have collected. Keep the best and purge the rest.

Then you can ‘organize your eBooks into a custom library and annotate pages.’ What a great resource!

But why stop there? Once you have your e-library set up, why not share your favorite eBooks with others as a thank you gift or high quality and memorable promotional tool?

Make a bulk purchase of e-readers and have some one load your favorite eBooks onto these devices. By delivering these customized e-readers in person, you can dramatically enhance relationships with the people who are important your ongoing success.